KEN LASHLEY – Ken has worked on titles such as Flash, Black Panther, Deadpool, X-Men, Batwing, Red Hood and the Outlaws and more! He also has credits on several DC New52 covers such as Suicide Squad, Superboy, Ravagers, Team 7, Blackhawks, plus lots of Star Wars related work for Hasbro, Lucasfilm, and LucasArts!

MARCUS TO – Marcus has worked on a several series for companies like DC Comics, Archaia, and Aspen such as Red Robin, Batwing, The Huntress, and the upcoming Cyborg 009 based on the original Japanese manga and anime created by Shotaro Ishinomori. Cyborg 009 will see release in both North America and Japan.

TY TEMPLETON – Ty Has written, penciled, and inked countless titles for DC, Marvel, and many other publishers. Most recently Ty has been providing art for Ultimate Spider-Man based on the popular animated series. Ty also runs “Ty Templeton’s Comic Book Bootcamp”, where he teaches up and coming creators the ins and outs of the comic industry!

ADAM GORHAM – Adam is the artist of the gritty medieval tale ‘Teuton’ published by Big Sexy Comics. Previously Adam made quite an impression with his graphic novel adaptation of Canadian indie film ‘The Vampire Conspiracy’, and has also contributed to the Western Horror anthology “Horror in the West”. “Undertow” is another title Adam has worked on which will be published in the near future.

VINCE SUNICO and Members of Spent Pencils – Vince Sunico has been appearing at Stadium Comics since 2008 and his recent work includes our store exclusive variant covers for Aspen Comics’ Shrugged and Jirni. Vince wlll also be releasing “Remnant” through IDW later this year. Spent Pencils is the Greater Toronto area’s largest collective of artists. The Spent Pencils crew is always a fan favourite at Stadium and conventions across North America!

DAVID BISHOP – David is the writer and illustrator of the Zombie Survival tale “Stranger”. He also famously worked with our own Ricky Lima on the haunting “Deep Sea”, of which we will see more of later this year. David is also working on art for “Of Stone”.

GEORGE TODOROVSKI – An independent artist from Toronto who is co-creator of the hilarious The Bear Stories graphic novels and webcomic. George is also the regular artist on the Dungeon Crawler Adventures web comic, and he has also had his work appear in Heavy Metal Magazine.

PARIS ALLEYNE – Up and coming young comic artist who has tons of potential, Paris is building quite the portfolio for himself while collaborating with other creators.

What is Free Comic Book Day?
Free Comic Book Day is held on the first Saturday in May every year. Participating comic stores all across North America give away comics for FREE to anyone who enters their store on that day.

Free Comic Book Day is meant to promote and celebrate comic books as great literature and a true artform.

Stadium Comics runs one of the largest Free Comic Book Day events in Canada. In addition to the free comics, the Brampton, Ontario comic shop brings in several guest artists and creators to sign and sketch for fans. Combined with the raffles and contests, and their biggest sale of the year, Free Comic Book Day at Stadium is one event that you don’t want to miss!

Actor Taye Diggs, best known for his roles in the Broadway musical Rent, the movie How Stella Got HerGroove Back, and the television series Private Practice, is now an author of Chocolate Me!, a book based on experiences of feeling different and trying to fit in as kids. Meet the author and illustrator Shane W. Evans and get your book signed!

Taye Diggs signs at Books of Wonder on Saturday September 28th from 5-7pm!

Press Release:

Books of Wonder is thrilled to welcome debut picture book author and star of stage, screen, and television, TAYE DIGGS for the launch party of his first picture book, Chocolate Me! This collaboration between the author and award-winning artist Shane Evans has been a dream project of theirs since they became friends in college. Now that the two are fathers, they’ve finally created Chocolate Me! Being different isn’t always easy. This little boy is teased for having darker skin and curlier hair. When he tells his mom he wishes he could be like everyone else, she shows him how beautiful he truly is. TAYE DIGGS will read from Chocolate Me!, take questions from the audience, and sign copies of his book. Light refreshments will be served.

The Baltimore Comic-Con is happy to announce the addition of Adam Hughes, Tony Harris, Josh Middleton, and Francesco Francavilla to the line-up of creators appearing at this year’s show. The show will be taking place the weekend of August 20-21, 2011 at the Baltimore Convention Center.

As far as cover artists working in comics today, Adam Hughes is among the very best. A 12-year veteran of Gaijin Studios, Hughes is most widely recognized for his pin-up style renditions of female characters, especially over the course of his long runs as cover artist on Wonder Woman and Catwoman. His most recent work includes a 2-page spread featuring Supergirl and Batgirl for Superman/Batman #75 in 2010 and covers for Zatanna (#13-16) in 2011, and he will be providing covers for DC’s relaunch of Batgirl which begins in September. Hughes won the Harvey Award for Best Cover Artist in 2001, 2002, and 2003.

Breaking into comics in 1989, Tony Harris made a name for himself as the artist and co-creator of DC Comics’ Starman. Also a member of Gaijin Studios, Harris left the Atlanta-based collective to form Jolly Roger Studios. His recent work includes wrapping up a 50-issue run on Vertigo’s Ex Machina in 2010 and he is currently working on a project called The Further Adventures of the Whistling Skull.

Josh Middleton broke into the comics industry in 2000 with his work on one of CrossGen’s original fours series, Meridian, where he penciled the first six-issue story arc. In 2003, after contributing to Marvel’s X-Men Unlimited series, Middleton signed an exclusive with the publisher and helped create the series NYX along with Joe Quesada. Moving on to DC Comics, he served as artist for the mini-series Superman/Shazam: First Thunder, and provided cover art for Vertigo’s American Virgin and DC’s Supergirl. Middleton’s most recent work includes art direction for Warner Brothers Animation’s Green Lantern: The Animated Series.

Francesco Francavilla, who is currently wrapping up his run on Detective Comics, will be working alongside Scott Snyder on the upcoming Swamp Thing title (one of DC Comics’ “New 52″) starting this September. In additon, Francavilla is also the artist on Marvel’s Black Panther: The Man Without Fear and is working on several short stories/anthologies at Archaia Entertainment.

“We are all very excited to add these four artist to the growing list of creators attending this year’s Con,” said Marc Nathan, show promotor of the Baltimore Comic-Con. “These guys helped to shape the look and feel of many modern comics and redefined those characters for a new audience.”

Artist Mark McKenna signs on Friday June 10th at Rubber Chicken Comics from 6pm to 8pm!! Mark is currently working for Dark Horse Comics on Star Wars-The Old Republic: The Lost Suns (ships June 8th). Recently his work on the online web comic titled “Star Wars: Blood of the Empire“ was collected into an 84 page trade paperback.

Matt Frank: Comic artist best known for his rampages through the worlds of giant monsters. Contributing work to IDW’s Transformers series and Wrath of the Titans: Cyclops. Matt was most recently the lead artist for IDW’s Godzilla Store-Crushing Cover project, as well as subsequent incentive covers for Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters. Matt is also currently working on a web comic series titled Giant Monster Zak!

Dirk Wood: Director of Retailer Marketing at IDW, Dirk Wood has over 17 years of experience in the comic industry, including a long stint as Marketing Director for Dark Horse Comics, after starting his career in retail as Operations Manager for Things From Another World. Currently best known as the comic narrator of IDW’s section in Diamond Previews.